Outriders

The Intel Core i5-12600KF paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 produces a fascinating dataset in Outriders, one that clearly delineates the shifting bottleneck between the CPU and GPU as resolution and settings change. The benchmark results show a system capable of extreme frame rates at 1080p, yet one that gets progressively more demanding on the graphics card as resolution climbs to 4K. The measured FPS deltas between settings presets at each resolution reveal exactly where the performance ceiling lies for this specific pairing.

Resolution Scaling

The data shows a significant drop in average FPS as resolution increases, which is expected, but the magnitude of that drop varies wildly depending on the graphics preset. At High settings, the average frame rate falls from 195.6 FPS at 1920x1080 to 163.3 FPS at 2560x1440, a decline of roughly 16.5%. The subsequent step to 3840x2160 is much steeper, dropping to 84.7 FPS, which is a 48.1% reduction from the 1440p result. This non-linear scaling strongly indicates that the RTX 4090 is the primary limiting factor at 4K High, as the pixel count increase overwhelms the GPU's fill rate.

The pattern shifts dramatically when observing the Low preset. Here, the 1080p result is a staggering 244.4 FPS, and 1440p still manages 207.6 FPS. However, the drop to 4K Low is severe, landing at 155.9 FPS. While this is still a high frame rate, the 24.9% performance hit from 1440p to 4K is proportionally larger than the 15.0% hit from 1080p to 1440p. This suggests that even at Low settings, the 4K resolution is beginning to saturate the GPU's capabilities, though the CPU is still keeping up.

The Ultra preset tells a different story about the CPU's role. At 1080p Ultra, the system produces 168.6 FPS, which is only 13.7% lower than the High preset at the same resolution. Yet, the jump to 4K Ultra craters performance to 60.7 FPS. This is a 64.0% drop from the 1440p Ultra score of 119.4 FPS. The extreme penalty at 4K Ultra points to a combination of factors: the massive pixel count and the heavy graphical effects taxing the RTX 4090's memory bandwidth and compute units, revealing that the GPU is unequivocally the bottleneck at this extreme configuration.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 is a behemoth with a 24 GB GDDR6X memory pool and a 384-bit bus, yielding a memory bandwidth of 1.01 TB/s. In Outriders, this vast memory capacity is never a limiting factor, as the game's asset streaming is unlikely to exceed even a fraction of that allocation. The data supports this, as the frame rate scales predictably with resolution, a classic sign of pixel-throughput limitation rather than a memory capacity issue. The GPU's boost clock of 2520 MHz provides the raw compute power, but the measured results show that the card's sheer horsepower is often hamstrung by the CPU at lower resolutions.

The variance in FPS between the Low and Ultra presets at 1080p is telling. The delta between Low (244.4 FPS) and Ultra (168.6 FPS) is 75.8 FPS, a substantial gap. However, this gap widens significantly at 4K, where the difference between Low (155.9 FPS) and Ultra (60.7 FPS) is 95.2 FPS. This widening gap indicates that the RTX 4090's architecture, with its 16,384 shading units and 512 texture mapping units, is being pushed much harder by the Ultra preset's effects, leading to a more pronounced performance collapse as resolution scales. The GPU's 82.58 TFLOPS FP32 compute is the engine, but at 4K Ultra, it's clearly operating at its limits for this title.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-12600KF, with its 10 cores and 16 threads, is a formidable processor for gaming. Its boost clock of 4.90 GHz on the performance cores provides excellent single-threaded throughput, which is crucial for games like Outriders. The benchmark data shows that at 1080p with Low settings, the system reaches 244.4 FPS, a figure that is likely near the CPU's rendering limit for this game. The fact that the High preset at 1080p (195.6 FPS) is not significantly higher than the Ultra preset (168.6 FPS) suggests that the CPU is still managing to feed the GPU adequately at these lower resolutions, but the frame rate is capped by the game's engine logic.

The Alder Lake architecture's 20 MB of shared L3 cache helps maintain smooth frame pacing, and the data implies that the CPU is not the primary bottleneck until the resolution drops and the frame rate climbs. At 1440p Low, the 207.6 FPS result is still high, but the CPU's headroom is clearly diminishing. The crucial observation is that the CPU's influence fades almost entirely at 4K. The substantial FPS drops between 1440p and 4K across all settings are wholly attributable to the GPU's workload, meaning the i5-12600KF is providing consistent, stable performance without introducing a processor-side limit that would flatten the scaling curve.

How This Combo Ranks

Within the database of 1693 tested combinations, this pairing of the i5-12600KF and RTX 4090 achieves a combo rank of 68. This places it in the top 4.0% of all tested systems, a position that reflects the immense power of the RTX 4090. The CPU's own performance percentile of 84 puts it above average among all tested CPUs, and its average benchmark score of 27827 is nearly identical to the Intel Core i9-10900K, which scores 27829 with a 0.0% delta. This indicates that, in general compute tasks, the i5-12600KF is perfectly competitive with that older flagship.

The ranking is likely buoyed by the 4K performance, where the GPU dominates. The data suggests that the combo's rank could be even higher if the CPU were able to push more frames at 1080p, but the measured results show the RTX 4090 is often waiting on the CPU. The GPU's own percentile of 91 places it well above the average, and its nearest rivals include professional-grade cards like the NVIDIA Tesla T4 and AMD Radeon Pro Vega 56, which score similarly in synthetic benchmarks but lack the gaming-specific optimizations of the RTX 4090. The high rank of 68 confirms the GPU's raw power, but the data leaves room for improvement via a more powerful CPU in CPU-bound scenarios.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a complete picture of performance across all presets and resolutions. Here is the exact breakdown:

• At 1920x1080: Low settings yield 244.4 FPS, Medium yields 214.1 FPS, High yields 195.6 FPS, and Ultra yields 168.6 FPS.
• At 2560x1440: Low settings yield 207.6 FPS, Medium yields 184.9 FPS, High yields 163.3 FPS, and Ultra yields 119.4 FPS.
• At 3840x2160: Low settings yield 155.9 FPS, Medium yields 114.9 FPS, High yields 84.7 FPS, and Ultra yields 60.7 FPS.

The most striking observation is the performance cliff at 4K Ultra, which falls just above the 60 FPS threshold. The step from Medium to High at 4K is a significant 26.3% drop, while the step from High to Ultra is a further 28.3% drop. This suggests that the Ultra preset includes a particularly demanding effect that disproportionately impacts the RTX 4090. Conversely, the scaling from Low to Medium is relatively tame at all resolutions, indicating a smooth progression of graphical fidelity. The data shows that the system is extremely capable at 1440p and below, with all presets except for 4K Ultra exceeding 100 FPS.

FAQ

*Q: Is the RTX 4090's 24 GB VRAM a limiting factor in Outriders?*

A: No. The measured FPS data shows predictable scaling with resolution and settings, which points to pixel and compute throughput limits rather than memory capacity issues. A memory bottleneck would manifest as stutter or crashes, not the smooth FPS deltas observed.

Q: How does the i5-12600KF compare to its nearest rival, the i9-10900K, based on the data?

A: The average benchmark scores are nearly identical, with the i9-10900K scoring 27829 and the i5-12600KF scoring 27827, a delta of 0.0%. This indicates that in synthetic benchmarks, the two CPUs perform at the same level, despite the i5 having fewer cores.

Q: What is the best resolution and preset combo for a 60 FPS target?

A: The data shows that 4K Ultra averages 60.7 FPS, which technically meets the target. However, 4K High drops to 84.7 FPS, providing a more comfortable margin. For a 144Hz display, 1440p High is the clear choice, as it averages 163.3 FPS.

Q: Does the CPU bottleneck the GPU at 1080p?

A: The data suggests a partial CPU limit at 1080p Low, where the system hits 244.4 FPS. Since the RTX 4090 is capable of much higher frame rates in other titles, it is likely that the i5-12600KF's single-thread performance is the limiting factor at this extreme setting.

Q: How significant is the performance penalty for using the Ultra preset over High?

A: The penalty is substantial, especially at higher resolutions. At 1440p, the drop is from 163.3 FPS to 119.4 FPS, a 26.9% reduction. At 4K, the drop is from 84.7 FPS to 60.7 FPS, a 28.3% reduction. This suggests the Ultra preset adds effects that are disproportionately heavy on the GPU.

*Q: Where does this combo rank among all tested systems in Outriders?*

A: This specific combination ranks 68th out of 1693 tested combos, placing it in the top 4.0% of all systems tested. This high rank is largely attributable to the GPU's dominant performance at 4K.

Settings Recommendations

For players seeking the smoothest experience, the data provides a clear hierarchy of choices. At 3840x2160, the High preset is the optimal balance, delivering 84.7 FPS, which is well above the 60 FPS playability threshold. Choosing Ultra reduces performance to 60.7 FPS, which is dangerously close to that threshold and offers diminishing visual returns for a 28.3% performance hit. The Medium preset at 4K offers 114.9 FPS, but the jump to High is worth the 26.3% FPS loss for the improved fidelity.

At 2560x1440, the High preset at 163.3 FPS is the standout recommendation for high-refresh-rate monitors. It provides a massive performance buffer over the 60 FPS target and is only 21.6% slower than the Low preset, which yields 207.6 FPS. The Ultra preset at 119.4 FPS is also viable, but it represents a significant 26.9% drop from High for marginal visual gains. For 1920x1080, the High preset at 195.6 FPS is the most sensible choice, as it offers excellent smoothness. The Medium preset at 214.1 FPS is a viable alternative for esports-level responsiveness, but the visual downgrade is noticeable. The data ultimately suggests that Ultra is the least efficient preset across all resolutions, offering the worst performance-per-frame-rate trade-off, while High provides the best combination of visual quality and frame rate for this hardware combo.